So I need more practice with my mig (Millermatic 210), and at the same time, I'd like to make some things for the shop. Here's my current list: Welding table and stool Welder cart T-dollies Grinder stand Storage racks/stands Anybody got anything good to add to the list? I've also thought about a press, a break or a blasting cabinet, but those are farther down the line.
I have always had the need for a 4x8 foot table on casters.......mine has a removeable three quarter inch plywood top and is dead flat. I've used it to mock-up a lot of things......right now it has a car body on it. comfortable height. maybe a materials rack too.
Strengthening your Harbor Freight bead roller. A stand for your Harbor Freight bead roller. If you don't have one, get one.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185116&highlight=home+made+shop+tools ...there's a couple things towards the bottom of this thread that might be good to practice on...plus they'll come in handy if yo're handy -marty
Go to the Miller Electric web site and the Ask Andy message board. They have lots of cool projects, and even have regular contests where you can win all kinds of stuff.
Ask your wife/GF/kids what they want. You can rack up the "good hubby" points by making a bike rack, flower trelliss, basketball goal, etc. while developing your welding skills for the important stuff
i am currently building a smoker our of some 55 gal drums its been a pretty good buildin **** lesson. count down to brisket
Consider making several hangers for extension cords, air hoses, etc. Weld a 1/4 " round (solid) J shaped on to a piece of strap with holes in it to bolt on to a wall or bench. We've got lots of thing hung on to them around the shop. RGV
I made a vice table. 4 pieces of 3-inch C-channel welded together to form the top. four pieces of 2x2 angle made into a frame that the top sits in. Then, a second angle frame, slightly bigger length and width for a shelf. Then 30-inch long angle legs welded to the top frame, with the second frame between the legs. The second frame, being wider, put all the legs at an angle, like a pyramid. Wit the base wider than the top, it's very stable. Fill the lower frame with expanded metal, and it's a handy shelf. ****er is heavy, too. Two pieces of angle iron "uprights" about 30 inches long. One flat bolts to wall studs, the other stands proud off the wall. Cut four pieces of 1x1 heavy wall box tubing 18-24 inches long. At one end, cut it at a 5-degree angle. Now weld the box tubing to your uprights, so you now have shelf hangers coming off the uprights. Bolt to the wall. Cover the hangers with foam pipe insulation, cap the ends with rubber crutch feet from Home Depot, and instead of setting wood on them for shelves, set windshields and gl*** on them to keep them safe. Two horseshoes, two short lengths of angle iron. Weld one piece of angle across the two fingers of the horseshoe. Same for the other. Do it so the horseshoes will stand up, using the angle as the base. Weld a piece of 1x1 quarter-inch flat stock across the top of the horseshoes. you now have horseshoe legs, with a mount, and a flat piece between them. Screw to the concrete near a door, and it's a boot s****er. I wrote a bunch of them a few years ago when I worked for Super Rod magazine. I need to get out in the garage and do a bunch more and write a book. -Brad
The thing that's been bouncing around my head is a stand to place a shot bag on top of at a comfortable height for me (I'm 6'10" so 4'+ would be nice) where I wouldn't have to bend over so far, and a ring around the neck of the stand to hang body hammers, and maybe a tray below that to hold the various dollies. I like the gl*** rack idea a lot. And maybe some ****o jackstands.
I'm actually in the middle of building just such a shot bag stand right now. The base is a red steel wheel wrapped in an old Bias Ply spare tire that never saw the ground, and it's all dry-rotted. The pipe is going to be welded to a '58 Buick front hub...that's what the wheel came from. Dressing it will be a swap-meet Moon disc. The tire gives a nice base, makes it easy to more around the shop, absorbs impacts so it won't ring when I hit on it, and gives you a place to set a foot while you're standing there hammering...kind of like the rail at a bar. I learned a while back that blacksmiths set the height of their anvil even with where their hand was when the arm was straight down at their side, with their elbow bent 90-degrees out in front of them. Another good gauge is the height of kitchen counters. If you're kin of the Jolly Green Giant, you might want to take a measurement of the kitchen counter, and adjust accordingly. I'm 6'1'', so I like all my shop equipment a little higher...drill press is on a pair of 6x6 timpbers, hydraulic press is on 2x4 steel feet with 2 inches of adjuster feet, etc. -Brad
I like this rack, It holds my sheet metal and the other side has my tubing and round stock, the small shelf in the center is full of short pieces. It is so full now I need to make another one bigger and heavier.
Brad - The tire idea is fantastic ... and aesthetically pleasing by your description. I hear you on raised countertops and all. Everything in my garage is set up higher or is going to be. Nothing like being comfortable when you do grunt work. Thanks for the tip on the blacksmith measurement as well. A short friend of mine was helping me in the garage the other day and almost ended up on his *** when he tried to flop down in MY stool, which is A LOT higher than he was expecting. Would of been a laugh but a crying shame as he's an old coot and might have busted a hip.
Oops...just reread my post, and the tire is NOT dry rotted. It's perfect. That's why I used it. I do like form AND function in the shop. All my equipment is painted Rust-oleum High Performance red (more solids), and anything that comes in contact with any other metal or work surface is painted Rust-oleum flat black. yeah, there's nothing worse than working at the drill press for a couple hours hunched over. When I built my vise table, I figured out the height of the top of the vise jaws, and worked my measurements backwards from there. Figured I'd be doing some hammering and such on the vise, so I wanted it to be comfortable. When doing that, it made the table a lot shorter than you'd plan for otherwise, but this way I get great leverage on the handle,and like I said, I can hammer and work at the jaws really comfortably. -Brad
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